How effective is a pepper spray ?

[Tant01]

I like the TASER more than pepperspray. I don't see how this is a REAL problem. How are Police OVERUSING tasers? As opposed to what? Shooting the assailant? Pepperspray sucks. Plain and simple. For both the user and the used upon.

No one has died from the Taser itself. It's usually a combination of other things. Just go to Taser's webpage for details. Anybody telling you anything else is mis-information.

Now, I'm not saying the taser is the end all. I've seen my share of deployments that just didn't work for some reason or another, the most common being a bad connection, or only one probe contact.

The taser is the last thing on my mind when someone wants to go hands on. It's just not reflex. I know of others that are quick draw mcgraw on that thing. Just not my thing. But way better than pepperspray.

Let's just put it this way: i have two rules:

1). No one uses pepperspray around me. PERIOD.

2). No one uses the taser if I'm already hands on. No if, ands, or buts. If I take a taser ride while fighting someone, you'll be spitting out teeth.

Other than that the best use for pepperspray is on dogs. taser works well too, but it's such a small target area to aim for.


p.s.
"DON'T TASE ME BRO!"

No kidding! I feel that way about the airbags in my car. I'd be grateful if they saved my life in a collision but if some IDIOT hits me at low speed and I get bagged I'm gonna be PISSED OFF!

God help the poor bastard if if I can still open my door I'm kicking someones ASS!

LOL

[Garland]

I remember in highschool one of my friends got pepper sprayed...
My friend was a hardcore punker and was carrying brass knuckles at the time and had on steel toe'd docs...He had to have his eyes flushed, but the other guy needed corrective facial surgery. The guy sprayed my friend in the face and in return his face caved the **** in.

So...pepper spray is only useful as a distraction to buy at MOST 2 seconds to get out of the way, find a weapon, or close the gap and ****'em up first.

[Garland]

I always try to look for the "take home lesson" that postulates out of that type of garbage. Ahhhhhh a mis-spent youth!

[warrior_artist]

I have one messed up Taser story and I one messed up pepperspray story I'll relate. The Taser one is funny.....in hindsight....after knowing the outcome and you'd have to know the people involved.

Officer vs badguy. they're on the ground...it's an all out fight. The officer was able to call it out, so units are enroute. First unit on scene....TAH-DAH! A Sgt. in training. (Do I even need to explain this....)

Now, my first reaction, I can't speak for anyone else, is to simply jump in the brawl and help win the fight. But, NOT EVERYONE THINKS THIS WAY!

Sgt on scene simply grabs his taser and fires into the jumbled mess of officer and dirtbag. Well, one probe hits POS and the other hits officer in the bicep. BOTH of them take the lightning ride for the full time. By that time other units have arrived and take suspect into custody. Needless to say officer is a bit upset. It could have gone ugly if both probes hit officer.

(Which sort of leads into a different discussion: a recent incident involved a handcuffed suspect who got free of one handcuff and grabbed an officer's taser and attempted to tase officer. suspect didn't know how to use taser.

Rule #2: If I'm hands on, the taser stays in the holster.

Another story:
2 Officers contact 6-8 subjects on a second level apartment complex balcony. One of the subjects has a warrant. (That means he gets to go to jail for free!) The officer grab suspect and his friends want to disagree = fight is on. Other units arrive on scene. FNG grabs pepperspray and attempts to spray a subject in the face who is struggling with an officer. FNG misses and puts almost the whole can in the face of the officer. Well, pepperspray is like the gospel, it's the good news for everyone involved. So now, you have a sweaty, bloody mess of officers, suspects, and pepperspray on a skinny little second level walkway of an apartment complex. this one has a good ending all badguys go to jail.

Refer to rule #1: No pepperspray. PERIOD!

I make it a point to tell all FNG's RULES #1 and #2. (In reference to less-lethal options).

Excited Delirium is usually the case when a taser has been used and someone dies. The taser doesn't cause the death, it just happens to be deployed almost every time a ED suspect is contacted. And that's because they're naked and violent and running amok.

Mike,
I agree, the alarmist machine sucks. But people will always have their misconceptions. It's like when a dirtbag draws a gun and tries to shoot an officer (or anyone for that matter) and then gets smoked for trying. All of a sudden the guy's life story is like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. People are just going to believe what they want to, whether the truth reaches out and slaps them one upside the head or not.

WA

[Wolfeye589]

I was talking to the officer at the highschool I went to one time during lunch. Somehow we got on the subject of pepperspray and he claims that people exposed to it enough can become partially desensitized to it. He claimed he even knew people who put it on food for flavor and he didn't seem like the type that would stretch the truth.

If that's true, then pepperspray might not deter some creep on the street, instead just making them mad, depending on if they're used to it or not.

If that's untrue, someone correct me please. I don't want to be telling rumors out of school.

[dogman1979]

It is not effective. There have been many instances where someone used pepper spray and ended up getting shot by the bad guy. If the person has no weapons, it could be useful.

[Tom Yum]

I'm not saying your buddy is lying, but if they did it, it wasn't for flavor because the stuff tastes like the rotten ass end of a Tijuana hooker. (Please do me the favor of not asking how I know what the rotten ass of a Tijuana hooker tastes like. I used to hang out with Marines, and that's all I'm going to say.)

Mike using the 'So a buddy of mine once said'...

[Wolfeye589]

As a soldier, I heard the same rumor and I tried pepper spray on food. It's freaking awful. It's hot, sure, but all you taste is the alcohol or whatever the propellant is that they use. It's chemical-tasting and it gives you a sense that you're smelling cleaning chemicals from the insides of your sinuses. Disgusting. I'm not saying your buddy is lying, but if they did it, it wasn't for flavor because the stuff tastes like the rotten ass end of a Tijuana hooker.
(Please do me the favor of not asking how I know what the rotten ass of a Tijuana hooker tastes like. I used to hang out with Marines, and that's all I'm going to say.)

hah, well he said the guy was in prison, so who knows... Thanks for the info. =)

[Liberty]

Naw. Just that said Marines used to take me on trips to ol' TJ from time to time and I may or may not have participated in questionable activities under their negative influence. I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation, however.

In other words, like that old joke, he wants to go camping - LOL!

[Tant01]

Camping ain't nothing to worry about... If they ever want to take you "hunting" then you need to worry.